When you find yourself navigating regulatory frameworks or contract negotiations without formal training, you’ve likely asked yourself what the best way to gain that expertise is.
If you’re handling these challenges consistently at work, but don’t have a formal legal background, a Master of Legal Studies might be the path for you. The MLS is a graduate degree that helps professionals who aren’t attorneys develop the legal skills they need to handle contracts, compliance, policy decisions and more.
Deciding whether a Master of Legal Studies (MLS) is worth the investment is about asking yourself how you can achieve strategic advancement in your field. This article offers a practical framework to determine if an MLS aligns with your current responsibilities and future career plans — and whether now is the right time to pursue this degree.
What Is a Master of Legal Studies?
A Master of Legal Studies is a graduate degree intended for professionals whose careers intersect with the law rather than center on it. Designed to build substantive knowledge of the law without preparing graduates to become practicing attorneys, the MLS curriculum focuses on core legal principles, legal reasoning and regulatory systems.
MLS programs typically last one to two years and are usually aimed at working professionals who need flexible scheduling and specialized, industry-aligned education. For example, UMKC School of Law’s online Master of Legal Studies offers asynchronous courses and specialized tracks in human resources, healthcare and compliance.
MLS vs. JD: What’s the Difference?
The Juris Doctor (JD) is a professional degree that prepares graduates to become attorneys. It generally requires three years of full-time study and bar preparation, leading to careers in legal representation or counsel.
A Master of Legal Studies is built for professionals who engage with legal issues in the corporate, nonprofit and government sectors, equipping them to navigate legal frameworks governing their field.
For mid-career professionals, the different audiences for the MLS and JD are clear: a JD is suited to those committed to becoming licensed attorneys, while an MLS gives you structured legal knowledge within an existing career path.
MLS vs. LLM: What’s the Difference?
A Master of Laws (LLM) is designed to deepen legal knowledge, not introduce it. Students generally have a JD or international first degree in law. For US attorneys, the LLM helps them develop expertise in a specialized area such as tax or international law. It can also be useful for international lawyers seeking to gain educational requirements to sit for their state bar.
The Master of Legal Studies serves a different audience, providing applied legal knowledge for non-lawyers whose roles intersect with contracts, regulation or risk.
What Can You Do With an MLS?
Individuals who earn a Master of Legal Studies typically work in industries where legal expertise can help them make better decisions. In sectors such as healthcare, finance, government and higher education, these roles carry significant organizational responsibility and require professionals to translate legal requirements into actionable policy and practice.
Some of the roles where MLS graduates can make the most impact include:
- Compliance officer, manager or director
- Contract manager
- Regulatory affairs specialist
- HR director
- Director of procurement
- Healthcare administration
- Risk manager or director
When Is an MLS Worth It?
Overall, when deciding if a Master of Legal Studies is right for you, you must assess how legal complexity intersects with your future career goals. It makes the most sense to pursue an MLS degree if you’re a professional looking for:
- Formal training in legal reasoning and regulatory interpretation
- Skills to better oversee compliance or organizational policy
- Career advancement opportunities in specialized areas like compliance, HR, risk management, contracts and senior leadership
- Credentials to pivot to a new career path
- Improved salary opportunities related to high-paying roles and organizational functions
- More responsibility in your current role related to contract management, risk management, employment policy, compliance programming and more
Career Advancement
You may be leading cross-functional projects or negotiating vendor agreements, but don’t have the training to make key strategic decisions backed by legal expertise. An MLS offers you the legal fluency that can prepare you for senior-level, management, directorial and higher roles.
With formal grounding in legal reasoning and regulatory interpretation, professionals are better equipped to oversee compliance functions or guide policy decisions.
While earning a degree does not guarantee advancement, it provides you the credibility that gives you access to promotions that were previously out of reach. For someone investing in graduate study, the relevant question is whether the degree will meaningfully expand your access to these roles, which often depends on your particular industry.
Salary Increases
Master of Legal Studies graduates benefit from the enhanced career stability and earning potential that all master’s graduates enjoy. MLS graduates are also more competitive for high-paying careers in compliance, risk management and contracts. In 2025, there were 89,107 job postings that preferred or required a master’s in legal studies, according to labor analytics database Lightcast. These roles advertised a median annual salary of $115,100.
Comparatively, the average professional with only a bachelor’s degree earns a median salary of $80,236 each year.
While an MLS does not guarantee a certain salary, it does position you for roles where high compensation is standard. In some cases, a single title advancement in a highly regulated field can recoup the cost of an MLS within a few years.
Desire for Career Change
Pivoting to a new career can be incredibly difficult, even for professionals with several years of professional experience. If your dream job is in a niche or specialized field, it’s even more difficult to land roles without direct experience.
The Master of Legal Studies can provide essential support for those seeking a career change. The curriculum will allow you to build direct experience with complex challenges and increase your overall legal fluency. This demonstrates your readiness for the roles you’re searching for, where legal grounding, regulatory interpretation and legal analysis are central.
Added Responsibilities at Work
Many professionals have roles that closely intersect with law and regulation, and over time these professionals gain new responsibilities where they need to apply legal knowledge directly. Contract management, risk management, employment policy, compliance programming and more responsibilities come with serious implications. Professionals working in these areas need to have legal expertise to avoid potential financial and reputational consequences for their organization.
If you’re already performing these legal-adjacent tasks or are hoping to take them on in the future, an MLS provides the legal foundation you need. The curriculum is designed to build a systematic understanding of how statutes, regulations and case law interact, enabling you to recognize risk earlier and communicate effectively with counsel.
In many cases, an MLS legitimizes and expands the work someone is already doing.
Is an MLS Right for You?
Candidates for an MLS tend to be working professionals whose legal-adjacent responsibilities have outpaced their formal credentials. Or, they may be looking to become more competitive for a different role in their field.
While anyone can earn a degree because they are interested in the subject matter, it’s important to consider the time and financial costs of a degree. With that in mind, it’s best to pursue a master’s degree when you know that the credential will solve a clear career problem: lack of credentials, lack of knowledge in an important area or a new career goal that you’re not trained for. An MLS can accomplish all these goals for professionals who need a legal foundation.
For professionals who need to remain in their current roles while pursuing graduate study, many MLS programs are structured with working adults in mind. UMKC Law School’s online Master of Legal Studies, for example, is designed for professionals seeking rigorous legal education that can be applied immediately within their existing roles.
Broaden Your Professional Horizons With UMKC’s Master of Legal Studies Degree
Elevate your career with the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law’s online Master of Legal Studies program — a legal studies degree designed for non-lawyers looking for practical legal knowledge that applies to their professional areas of interest. Our online program is a hands-on legal studies degree program that offers four in-demand concentrations designed with your career goals in mind. In our highly flexible program, you’ll learn from expert professors and instructors who are certified in online teaching.
UMKC School of Law proudly embraces the university’s mission of promoting student-centric learning through collaboration and an interactive, applicable curriculum. Our diverse and inclusive community spans two vibrant campuses and an online network, welcoming students from all 50 states and over 85 countries. At UMKC Law, we’re not just educating future legal professionals — we’re shaping leaders who will drive cultural, social and economic prosperity in their local communities and beyond.
Learn more by downloading a brochure or get started on your application today!
Discover how the UMKC MLS can advance your career.
Learn more about the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law’s online Master of Legal Studies.
